Cultivator



s. K. Draws.'Y

CULTIVATOR. APPLICATION vFILED SEPT.3,1914.

PatentedMar. 7, 1922.

2 SHEETS-SHEETA l.

S. K. DENNIS.

CULTIVATOR. 'APPLlcATxQN flu-:n SEPT. s, 1914.

1,408,990. Patented Maf. 7,1922.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SAMUEL K. DENNIS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS. TO

vIllrlllR-NA'IIONAL HARVESTER COMPANY,

A CORPORATION OF NEW' JERSEY.

CULTIVATOR.

Application filed September To allie/171 om t may concern Be it known that I. SAMUEL K. DENNIS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago. in the county off-Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cultivators, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact specification.

This invent-ion relates to cultivators, and has for its object to simplify and improve the construction and operation thereof in a manner to enlarge the scope of their employment.

As is well known there exists to-day a manifold variety of cultivators. which are made necessary on account of slight differences in the conditions under which they are operated. and the disadvantage of this is felt strongly by the manufacturers who must perforce supply a machine for each and every demand. lith this in view I have provided a cultivator of great adaptability embodying a sim-ple combination of the essential parts, and employing a coherent arrangement of adjustments to thereby suit tlu` cultivator to a maximum latitude of uscsso that one type will serve the purposes which could heretofore be met only by `a variety ot cultivators.

Entering into this combination are: improved connections between each of the gang members and its carrying member including the employment oit means whereby the beams may be held in parallel relation and independently adjusted laterally. which means will supplant and per-form all of `the 'Functions of the adjustable jockey arches now in use. and in addition will afford convenient means for holdingeither or both gang members away front the center ofthe machine. as is desirable in cultivating on the side of a hill.

@ne form which my invention may assume is exemplified in the following description and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 shows a vertical longitudinal sectional view of a cultivator embodying my invention Figure 2 shows a detailed view in plan of the means for mounting each ot the beams upon its supporting member;

Patented Mar. 7, 1922.

3, 1914. Serial N0. 860,035.

Figure 3 shows Ya detailed view in elevation of the parts shown in Figure 2; and.

Figure i shows the adjustable connection employed 'for holding the beam against lateral movement. l

leterring in detail to the form of my invention illustrated herewith it will be seen that I have provided a cultivator having carrying wheels 10, an arched axle 11, a draft tongue .12 connected with the arc-hed axler` a front yoke member 13 carried on the tongue rigidly therewith. cultivator beams l-it connected to the front` yoke member and `provided with hand bars 14@ projecting upwardly. and a drivers seat 121 pivoted to the tongue and adapted to be folded thereover when it is desired to convert the machine into a walking cult-ivator.

T he connections between the gang members and the yoke members are as follows: The ends of the yoke member 13 are provided with horizontal extensions or spindle portions l5 upon each of which is rotatably mounted a sleeve 16, said sleeve being provided in its front wall with a longitudinal slot` Into this slot is inserted a bolt 18. the sru'rouiuling wall of the sleeve being sufiieiently spaced from the spindle portion 15 to permit the bolt head to reside between the parts. A. clamping member il@ is arranged upon the bolt in non-rotatable engagement with the sleeve. and its periphery is beveled or cone-shaped. to enter a reacting clamping member which latter is provided with a Curved portion wit-hin which is seated a member 2li havingr the forked ends 25 of one of the cultivator beams pix'oted thereto for horizontal movement. Y This member is provided with a vertical slot through which the bolt 18 is extended and clamped thereto b v means of a nut and washer 27.

lVi th this construction when the nut 27 is loosened the cult-ivator beam may be moved in a vertical direction and in a. lateral direction. and may he rotated in either direction on a longitudinal axis on account of the clamping members 20 and 22. This couplingl forms the subject matter of my divisional application Serial Number 467.378. filed May 6, 1921.

The forked members 25. as will be seen. are in two parts, each detaehably connected of thevbolts being received in slots 29 so that the twoparts may be swung away from each other for the purpose of allowing the member 24 to be inserted. The pivotal connection between the forked meniberand the member 2liis accomplished by providing depressions 30 in the ends oi the forked inemf bei', into which depressions the member 26 is rotatably fitted, and a bolt 3l, vertically positioned, connects the coacting parts in piv otal relation. Eacli'ot the cultivator `beams is thus free to be swung laterally, with the bolts 3l as its axis.

Upon the outer end or" the rotatable sleeve 16 there isfformed a crank arm 32 normally .projected downward and at its lower end provided with openings 33, into any one of which is litted a rod .34, and at the other end oil the rod a contractible coil spring is arranged, Vvwhich spring is connected to a brac ret member B6 fastened upon the horizontal portion oit the arched axle, said connection. being through a short link 37 screw threaded and provided with a hand nut 88 :tor adj usting the tension of the spring. This spring,'it will be understood, is for the purpose ot'assisting inthe vertical movement ot thegaiig member. A brace bar 39 is di agonally arranged between the outer end ol the spindle portion 15 and thc horizontal portion of the arched axle,'being also icastened to the bracket 36, which bracket is so mounted. that it permits a rotatable movement oit the arched axle. Obviously, this brace bar serves to rigidly support the yoke member 18 and to otherwise reinforce the culjtivator frame. Y

rlhe liftingspring, it will be seen, occupies a position directly behind the brace bar 39. and for this reason a more simple appearance is given the cultivator frame andthe spring is protected against injury due to striking obstructions, as it often does where arranged forwardly of the cultivator and connected to the tongue. The import-ant advantage et such an arrangement, however,'is that all strains are removed from the tongue or other portions of the forward frame and the strain is thrown longitudinally upon the bar 39 which, obviously, would have nodainaging effect.' Another great advantage of this arrangement ot the spring is that it enables me to locate this part on the outer end of the spindle portion l5 and thereby, in an operative cultivator, the springs are further separated irom the row of corn and the down wardly extending crank arms 32 will not strike Vthe young plants and injure them. w. My improved arrangement of the lifting springs is particularly advantageous when used in connection with two-row coltivatore. for then the immense strains now thrown upon the tongue, and which otter sliort'use causes that vmember -to visibly sag and incenso weaken, would be entirely removed and the strains, il any, absorbed by the diagonal brace bars. ltloreover, by having the springs arranged as shown, the thumb nuts for adV l'tending in a substantially horizontal direc-V tion throughw an opening in the bent end of a,

bar 40 and along the flat surtaeeof the bar for a short distance, where a bent Vend or n projection 39h is inserted in', one' of a series of openings 41 Vformed in said` bar, The bent end of the link is heldV in position in this openingY by a* cutterV pin 42, or otherwise. The bar l0 is pivoted to the lower end of the upright portion ofthe arched aXleadjacent tothe spindleportionthereof, ire'terably by a fprojectionfv 43 ,a circular in cross section which lhas a bent. end 43a extended through they bar and held therein also by a cotter pin.

This' extensible bar serves to assist the diagonal bar Vin reinforcing the parts ofthe cultivatoi', landit is readily adjustable to perwardly or rearwardly, as may be desired, to provide a proper balance for the weight ot ythe driver. The adjustment is made simply by removing the cotter pin 42 from the lug 391 swinging the link39a outwardlyV from the bar l-O, and then adjusting the two meinbers longitudinally, drawing them together or pulling them apart asV may be desired Vuntil the proper lengthhas been reached.

no wise interferes with the operation of theV other parts, and its adjustable connection is easily raccessible to the operator at all times.

-mit the carrying wheels to be moved ton'` iioY The 'means for adjustably holdiiigeach of the beams against lateral movement is best shown in Figures 2, 3 and 4 Vand coinprises a bracket formed oa pair of spacedV arms tpivotally connected to the spindle portion 15, and extending YVrearwardly ierV a short distance where a notched lor rack bar i5 connects the two'ends. The notches on the bar 45 are formed by a series ot studs 46 spaced apart, as shown in Figure 4f, and as now constructed the twoA arms 44; are preferably reinforced intermediately by an integral cross brace 4'?, A small contractiblc coil spring tilis 'connectedwith the large 'lifting spring 35, and has a connection with one-ot the arms for keeping' the notched bar tain Aengagement with the bifurcated end 49 ot a collar 50 carried adjustably on the beam. llpon thediagonal brace bar39 is carried, by'. means of an adv justable collar 5l, a stop lugi which engages with one of ther arms 4.4. and limits the upward movement thereof The opera-tionr ot Vthe adjustable locking device just describedis as Jfollows: Normally, with the beamsin working position, the forked lugs Li9 will'engage with the studs t6 and lock the beam against lateral movement. Any slight v,vertical shift in the beam will obviously be followed by a similar movement on the part ot the bracket let on account of the spring 8, and no unlocking of thel parts can therefore occur in the usual operation of the device. `lowever. when the end oi the row of plants is reached and it is desired to turn around, or transport the cultivator'for any considerable distance, the operator will raise the ground tilling members entirely outot' the ground through an upward movement of the hand bars la, assisted by the lifting Isprings 35. The stop lug 52 will then intervene and limit the upward movement ot the arms ai so that the lugs 4S) on the beam can be disengaged from the notched bar 45, and thereupon the beams will be 'free to swing laterally, and the operator-may rest them upon the hooks carried upon the lower ends oit' the arched axle for that purpose. rthis is an advantage, inasmuch as the cultivator need not. necessarily, be provided with lifting levers. whereas. heretofore, such separate levers havenlways been essentialwhen al spreader arch is used. The arch, it will be understood. would prevent the beams from being readily moved apa-rt to position on the rest hooks 53.

It is obvious that either one ot the beams may be moved to any desired position in al lateral direction, and locked inthat position when lowered on account of the engagement between the lugs 4S) and the rack bar 45. Both beams are thus given an independent adjustment, and at'the same time may be held in parallel relation. On account of the method ot mounting the arms et and associated parte it is obvious that the device just described can be made to contorm to the varying adjustments of which each of the beams is capable. Moreover, the form of cultivator shown herewith is particularly adapted to receive such a locking device inasmuch as the liftin spring 35 can be made use of the'movement oit the arms stel, the diagonal brace bar 39 being also specially convenient il'or the reception ol' the stop member 51. This device can be used to perform all the functions of thel adjustable' jockey arches now in use. and in addition offers a new result in that both beams may be swung to one side oit the cultivator and locked in that position. which is desirable in cultivating corn on a side hill.

TWhile 1 have shown and described but if to assist in one embodiment of my invention herein it is to be understood that it is susceptible ot modifica-tion, and therefore changes in the construction and arrangement of the several parts may be resorted to without departing` from the spirit of the invention as disclosed in the appended claims.

V1vVhat I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. 1n a cultivator, a plurality of laterally and vertically movable beams, means for permitting lateral adjustment of said beams at a given point in the vertical movement, and adjustable means for predetermining the point in the vertical movement of said beams at which they are released for lateral movement.

2. In a cultivator, a plurality of laterally movable beams pivotally mounted for up and down movement, and means carried by the trame for holding said beams against lateral movement when in working position and automatically released therefrom when said beams are jaised to a predetermined point. v

3. In a cultivator, a plurality of laterally movable beams pivotally mounted for up and down movement, and means movablel up and down with said beams and capable of holding them against lateral movement and automatically released therefrom when said beamsare raised to their extreme limit of upward movement.

4. In a cultivator` a frame, laterally moveable beams pivotally mounted thereon, an arm `tor each oit' said beams carried on the pivotal mounting, a spring for moving said arm in conformity with the beams, and means on said arm for locking the beam against lateral movement when in working position.

5.111 a cultivator. a frame, a laterally movable beam pivotally mounted thereon, an arm carried on said frame and extending rearwardly. and provided with means for locking said beam against lateral movement, means for raising said arm in conformity with the beam, and a stop device for limiting the upward movement of said arm.

6. In a cultivator, a front yoke member, beams pivotally mounted thereon, brace bars extending diagonally from said voke member. lifting springs for assisting in the vertical. movement ot' said beams, means carried by said yoke member for adjustably locking each of said beams against lateral movement. a connection between said locking means and adjacent lifting spring for moving it. in conformity with the beam, and an adjustable stop device carried by each of said diagonal brace bars for limiting the upward movement of said locking means.

'7. In a cultivator, an axle, a frame, a yoke member thereon, gang members carried by the yoke member, a diagonally arranged one of a series of openings in said har, 'and means for retaining said projection in position within the opening. Y

Inl testimony whereof I my signature, in the presence of two Witnesses.

SAMUEL n. DENNIS.

Witnesses: Y C. H. WANGOLD,

EVAN EVANS. 

